


Supermarket Flowers

by Strangertd



Category: Glee
Genre: Character Death, Gen, This is really sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 09:26:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16741360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strangertd/pseuds/Strangertd
Summary: Kurt tells his new family members (and Blaine) the story of his mom's passing.Title + song used is Supermarket Flowers by Ed Sheeran, as it was that song that inspired this fic. Really, imagine a baby Kurt singing that :(





	Supermarket Flowers

_ "Memories of a life that's been loved… Took the get well soon cards and stuffed animals… Poured the old ginger beer down the sink…" _

**

Blaine slides on the couch next to Kurt, who sits in the middle with Carole on his right side. Burt sits on the recliner while Rachel and Finn take up the loveseat. They were all planning to watch a Christmas movie together, since the holiday was only 2 days away and it was their first official day of winter break. 

Blaine admires the Hudmels tree as Finn and Kurt argue over which movie to watch (Kurt argued that a Christmas Story was a classic, while Finn argued that Home Alone was a better classic), when his eye catches on a peculiar ornament.

“Kurt.” Blaine nudges him to get his attention. “What’s that bottle on there for?” Kurt looks over and hums, smiling fondly. 

“That’s my mom’s old perfume bottle. I loved how she smelled so I kept that near me all the time. I never wanted to get rid of it so Dad made it into an ornament.” Blaine smiles, appreciating the sentiment, then sits back to look Kurt in the eyes.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how  _ did _ your mom die? I’ve always been curious but I don’t wanna make you uncomfortable or anything. You don’t have to answer.” Kurt just goes tight lipped and shrugs.

“I’m okay with telling you, I just don’t wanna depress anyone else. It’s Christmas eve eve.” Kurt shrugs again, and Rachel pipes in.

“I wouldn’t mind hearing a story. It beats you and Finn arguing over movies which- I do have to agree with Kurt in that A Christmas Story is better.” Rachel grins and sits back against the seat. 

“First of all- Home Alone is iconic and- yeah. I know we’ve both talked about our parents deaths but I’ve never heard anything about the specific event from you, or much about before it all happened.” Finn adds, and Kurt sighs, giving his father a glance, who simply shrugs in return.

“Okay. But get comfortable, because if I’m telling the story, it’s going to be the  _ whole _ story.” Kurt gives everyone a monet to get comfortable and curl up with their blankets and snacks. Even Burt shifts back into his chair more and pulls his bowl of popcorn close.

 

***

_"...Oh I'm in pieces, it's tearing me up, but I know a heart that's broke is a heart that's been loved…"_

***

 

Our story begins in 1989, on the campus of Ohio State University. My mom, Elizabeth Benson was attending to get her teaching degree for primary education. My father was going for engineering and business. They met in their math class, and fell in love. Three months before their graduation date, mom got pregnant with me, and as soon as they both graduated, they got married. 

They moved from Columbus to Lima then, and my dad bought out a run down tire shop and made it his own. Mom stayed home with me for the first year of my life, but I stayed with my dad at the shop or with my aunt Anne while my mom went back to school to get her certification and teaching license.

My mom ended up being a kindergarten teacher, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever that my mom got to be my teacher. At school she taught me the basic kindergarten skills that every 5 year old learns, then at home, she would teach me everything else that I know today. Cooking, sewing, dancing, singing. She was the one who pushed me to do it, and I loved it so much.

Mom taught me how to cook and sew from a very early age, and we would always sing together after school and ballet classes as we made dinner for Dad for when he came home. I would help repair clothes with her and play tea parties with her. 

My days were perfect. Go to school. Go to ballet.  Mom took me home and we would cook for dad. He’d come home and we would eat together, then do fun stuff like watch a movie, play outside, sing. Anything.

When I was 7 she got really sick and started having a lot of doctors appointments. I didn’t know why, but all of a sudden I was having to take the bus home after school, or our neighbor down the road would take me home and I’d play with their daughter, Lexi, who was 10. Every time I asked Mom or Dad what was wrong, they would just tell me Mom was going to the doctor because they thought she was sick, and I did believe it for a while.

My eighth birthday was really quiet, because normally my mom threw the parties for me, but she was staying “with aunt Anne” for the week, which now I know meant in the hospital, and it was up to Dad. I don’t really blame him for anything, though. 

He was so distracted by my mom and all the hospital bills that he forgot to invite anyone, so he quickly called a few of the neighbor kids to come over- which was ok. I liked Lexi anyways, and the cake was still good, even if it was store bought. I still got presents too, from family only though. It wasn’t shitty or anything, it just wasn’t the same as I was used to, you know? 

Finally Mom stopped working all together, and she got really weak and thin. She never left her bed anymore unless she was going to the bathroom. There was no more ballet, no more cooking together, no more singing or dancing. Just me sitting on the living room floor while she stayed in bed and Dad worked. 

One day after a particularly long doctor’s appointment, I went into her room while Dad was outside making phone calls. I climbed onto her bed and sat next to her, grabbing her hand.

“When are you going to stop being sick?” I asked her. She just cried and said “Never.”

“Why?” I asked, and it took her a bit to answer but finally she grabbed my hands and gave me a tearful look.

“Sweetie… I have a thing called Glioblastoma Multiforme. It’s a tumor in my brain that’s making me really sick.” But of course I had no clue what any of that meant. I just thought it was like a really bad flu, and decided I would do whatever I could to make her sickness go away.

One day a few weeks later I walked out of my room into the living room to hear Dad talking to my Aunt Anne after her visit with her sister. They were both crying and holding hands, comforting one another.

“Liz is out of it, Burt. She said ‘it’s been a whole year since my diagnosis and it’s only gotten worse! I have realistically 3 months left before this thing takes me anyways! The hospital refuses to assist! Anne… I can’t let Kurt watch me die so slowly. I can’t!’ And I tried to convince her otherwise but” and then she broke down into heavy sobs. 

I didn’t understand then but… I do now. The next day when I got home from my first day of 2nd grade, mom called me into her bedroom. She had a little wrapped up present for me, and I was so excited. I thought she was finally getting better after all the soup and get-well-soon hugs I had supplied her, and was giving me a present to make up for it. 

It was a little scrapbook she made herself for me. Pictures and little handwritten journal pages starting from the moment she discovered she was pregnant with me, all the way up until the picture Dad had taken of us on her bed on her birthday just the week before. I thanked her immensely for the gift, and she broke into tears. 

She hugged me as we watched a Disney movie in her bed and cried and cried and cried. I thought it was just because she thought Bambi was a very sad movie, but now I realize why she thought it was so sad. 

The next day before school, she called me into her bedroom to say goodbye. She gave me a big hug and kiss and waved goodbye. That was it. I went to school.

After school, Dad took me home and said that we would make a big dinner together for mom. He had bought all the ingredients to make spaghetti and meatballs, and promised me extra cheese. I smiled so wide and thought-  _ Finally! Family dinners are back! Mom must be better now! _

I sat in the kitchen and laid out all the ingredients while Dad went to their room for a moment to ask if she wanted anything to drink, and from down the hall, I heard him scream. Nothing in the world is more terrifying than hearing your father scream like that.

Of course, b-being the curious and, and worried kid I was when I- I heard Dad scream, I ran down the hall and ju- just froze.

 

**

_"...I hope that I see the world as you did cause I know a life with love is a life that's been lived…"_

**

 

Kurt chokes up a sob, which he tries to disguise as a cough, but no one falls for it. Blaine sits forward and rubs his back in small little circles while Carole hands him- and Burt- a tissue, which he uses to wipe his eyes and nose. 

“Sorry. Fuck, one second.” Kurt takes a shaky breath and lets it out, regaining his composure. “Okay.”

 

**

_ "...So I'll sing Hallelujah… You were an angel in the shape of my mum…" _

**

 

I saw mom in her bed. The pillow was all bloody and a good chunk of her face was- it was pretty gruesome. Dad was just cradling her and crying, and then I saw it. In her hand. The .22 caliber that she always had in the bedside drawer in case the house ever got broken into. 

Once the pieces connected in my head that she must have been the one to do this to herself, I just screamed. Dad quickly turned and picked me up, running me as quickly as he could across to the Johnston’s house. Mrs. Johnston saw the blood on my dads hand and my shirt, saw that both of us were crying, heard me screaming for my mom, and immediately kept me inside. 

I struggled past her and tried to run back, but she never let go of me. Dad called the ambulance and I watched from the window as they rushed her into the ambulance and took off. A few hours later, Dad finally came to get me, and he had aunt Anne with him. 

He took me home and brought me to my room, changed me, and tucked me in to bed. He sat on the edge of my bed, taking heavy breaths and trying to calm himself.

“You mom… She’s gone, buddy. I- This was probably going to happen anyways but um… It’s happened now. It’s just us. She’s passed away. You remember what that means, right?” He asked, and I nodded. I still wasn’t over the passing of my betta fish, Daniel. We just held each other and cried for a bit. We were both scared. 

“Daddy? Will you please sleep with me?” I asked. He didn’t answer me. He just climbed into bed with me, and we held each other and cried until we fell asleep. 

I didn’t go to school for a whole week, and I didn’t talk to anyone except my dad- not even my aunts and uncles when they came to stay with us. When I went back to school, everyone gave me cards that teacher had told them to make. 

 

**

_ "When I fell down you'd be there holding me up… Spread your wings as you go…" _

**

 

Kurt pauses, smiling. 

“I still have them all, actually… there’s even one from you in there Finn. Quinn and mercedes too.” Finn smiles in response. 

“Oh yeah, we were all in the same 2nd grade classroom.”

 

**

_ "...I took the supermarket flowers from the windowsill. I threw the day old tea from the cup…" _

**

 

The funeral was that weekend and I still hadn’t talked to anyone, and dad had been sleeping in my room with me that whole time. After three full weeks of refusing to eat more than a piece of toast and not sleeping more than 3 hours without waking up or having a nightmare, I finally saw how much it was killing my dad. 

I realized then that now with mom gone, all my dad and I had was each other. So from then on, upon me asking, our neighbor dropped me off at the shop everyday after school and I would help my dad work. When I turned 10 I even started getting a paycheck! When we got home, we would both make dinner together- although it was mostly me, and I fully took that over around age 12- and then I would sit at the table and do my homework while Dad paid bills or helped me with anything I needed. 

That’s when the bond started. Sure we drifted in some areas- especially as I aged, seeing as I was very into fashion and tea parties and Dad was obviously not.

 

**

_ "...Dad always told me, "don't you cry when you're down" but mum, there's a tear every time that I blink…" _

**

 

“Hey, I still did them with you. I liked the tea parties anyways. You make a mean biscotti.” Burt cuts in, and Kurt smiles.

“I know. But no matter, how different we were… we took care of each other. It got harder when the bullying started in 8th grade but, no matter how upset I got, or how much those bullies made me want to take my own life… I just couldn’t. Every time I imagined me actually killing myself, all I could hear was my dads screams when he found my mom, and I just knew i couldn’t do that to him again.” Kurt finishes with a smile, and Burt wipes a tear away. 

“God dammit, kid. Come here.” Burt stands up and opens his arms, and Kurt gladly falls into his embrace. Blaine jumps up and falls in as well, and not too much longer, Carole joins too, followed by Rachel and Finn.

Sure, Kurt misses his mother and the way that his family used to be, but he’s also thankful that things turned out the way they did. In this moment, his life feels complete.

**

_ "You got to see the person that I have become. Spread your wings and I know that when God took you back he said Hallelujah… You're home." _


End file.
